Chapter Sixteen: The Insider
Three days had passed since the park ambush.
The bruises on Alora's ribs had faded, but the ache in her chest hadn't. She sat in her office, blinds drawn, staring at the security footage Elijah had enhanced.
The figure in the SUV remained masked.
No license plate.
No leads.
The police had filed it under "ongoing investigation," but Elijah knew better.
"Someone's cleaning their tracks too well," he muttered, eyes darting over code as he ran background scans on every email tied to the anonymous leak.
Alora barely heard him. Her mind was locked on a more painful reality:
Who on her team betrayed her?
Her assistant?
Her financial officer?
Someone from the original shelter staff she'd hired?
She had trusted them all. Called them family.
Now every smile felt like a mask. Every shared memory, a weapon turned.
---
That night, she received an encrypted email.
Subject line: "You're Looking in the Wrong Direction."
Attached: a screenshot of an internal memo — a confidential budget file that only two people had access to.
Her.
And Jada — her childhood friend, former shelter mate, and first hire.
Alora's stomach dropped.
She called Elijah immediately.
"Pull everything you can on Jada's access. I need to know if—"
"Elora…" His voice came through, quiet, heavy. "I already did."
He sent a folder of evidence.
IP logs. Bank pings. A signed backend approval slip for the account where the missing $40,000 had gone. All under Jada's admin login.
And then — a series of flagged Slack messages.
Jada… talking to someone named R.
> "She won't see it coming."
"She's blinded by guilt. She owes us both."
"Let her fall. Then we rise."
---
Alora stared at the screen in stunned silence.
R.
Reina.
Her two sisters — the only ones who knew her story from the roots — had joined forces to bring her down.
Elijah walked over, kneeling beside her.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.
"I gave her everything," Alora whispered. "I took her from the streets, gave her a job, trusted her with my books…"
"You didn't fail her," Elijah said. "She chose this."
"But I missed it. I missed it, Eli."
He pulled her close. "Because you believed in people. That's not weakness. That's your strength."
---
The Confrontation
The next morning, Alora walked into the office like nothing was wrong.
Smiling. Calm. Controlled.
Jada was in her usual spot, hunched over spreadsheets, caramel hair in a messy bun.
Alora motioned for her to step into the private meeting room.
Jada followed, suspicious but silent.
When the door closed, Alora turned and dropped the folder on the table.
"Want to explain this?"
Jada's eyes skimmed the files. She didn't flinch.
Didn't even pretend to be surprised.
"So you know."
"I trusted you."
"You used me," Jada snapped. "Just like you used Reina. You stood on our backs and smiled for cameras like you got here alone."
"I brought you with me," Alora said. "You had an office, a salary, a title—"
"Scraps. From your golden table."
"You think I owe you my legacy?"
"I think you forgot who helped you build it."
Alora's voice dropped. "So what was the plan? Frame me? Burn it all down?"
Jada smiled coldly. "We were going to destroy you. And then tell the world we saved Phoenix Rising from the fake at the top."
"And Reina?"
"She was supposed to join me. But after that bench meeting? She changed her mind."
Alora's heart skipped. "She walked away from this?"
"She got weak," Jada spat. "But me? I'm not finished."
Before Alora could react, Jada reached into her bag —
But Elijah burst in, two security guards behind him.
"Step away," he barked.
Jada froze.
The guards grabbed her.
She didn't struggle.
As they led her out, she turned and hissed:
"Everyone thinks you're a savior. But you're just a story thief. And now? You'll watch your little empire crumble — from the inside."
---
Later That Night
Alora sat alone in her apartment, the quiet pressing in around her like a second skin.
The headlines were already spreading.
Phoenix Rising Insider Exposed.
Founder Cleared of Fraud.
Former Friend Behind Embezzlement.
Her name was clean again.
But her heart… wasn't.
She looked out at the skyline, lights blinking like questions in the dark.
Then her phone buzzed.
A text from Reina.
> She never spoke for both of us.
When you're ready… I'd still like to rebuild.
From the ashes. Together.
Tears slid silently down Alora's cheeks.
The fire hadn't broken her.
It had forged her.